Windows

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Why set a max file size for registry?

Here is a question that recently came up in one of my courses. I have not been able to find an answer from our instructor or others.You can set the max file size for the registry in Win2K. Why would you do this? I know the obvious answer, but if you limit the file size and the file is bigger than the limit, Windows tells you, and then resizes it on its own. So why give you the option to set registry size, if you can't actually control it?

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Why set a max file size for registry?

You know what the ideal size is and essentially Windows will resize it at need. Why give the option to set the registry size and then remove control from it??? Maybe because it gives you an event viewer message at the point that it needs to set the max larger, and then you know that maybe it's time to take some action in cleaning the registry. Whereas if Windows controlled it entirely, you wouldn't necessarily know when it's time to look at entries that should be deleted (without manually looking at it, or thinking about it).

My instructors used to say: "Don't ask 'why' Microsoft did it this way, just know that they did it this way."

Why set a max file size for registry?

As Anna said, the notice provides a good flag that your registry has grown.

As the registry gets larger, system performance slows.If you cannot reduce the size of the registry, you may need to take drastic measures to maintain system performance.

In fact, the real reason that you have to clean the hard drive and re-install Windows on a regular basis is that the registry gets too bloated and slows windows down to unaccaptable performance levels.

Also, a sudden change of the registry size could be an indication of a hacker attack.

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